Harold Fish Released From Prison; Goddard Wants to Put Him Back In

A former schoolteacher from Tolleson walked out of a Buckeye prison a free man on Tuesday following a successful appeal of his conviction in a shooting he says was in self defense.

The West Valley Viewdescribes how Harold Fish, 62, (at right) plans to go camping and fishing, and that he looks forward to good meals and doing chores around the house. Fish spent three years in prison for shooting Grant Kuenzli to death in a confrontation on a hiking trail in the woods. With no witnesses to back him up, Fish ended up socked with a second-degree murder rap by Coconino County prosecutors.

Fish has become a cause celebre for gun-rights advocates, making the decision by state Attorney General Terry Goddard (left) to pursue the case against him highly political.

Goddard plans on running for governor, and successfully throwing Fish back in the slammer might tick off more than a few voters. Conversely, it might make the anti-gun crowd really happy, though we're not exactly sure how.

It seems a risky way to distinguish himself among other 2010 gubernatorial candidates.